Home Depot closes stores in China

Home Depot Inc., the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, is closing its remaining seven big-box stores in China as it shifts focus to specialty and online outlets in the world’s second-largest economy.

About 850 workers will be fired, and the company will record an after-tax charge of about $160 million, or 10 cents a share, in the third quarter, the Atlanta-based company said.

Home Depot entered China in 2006 with the purchase of Home Way, giving it 12 stores similar in size to its big-box outlets in the United States.

Government reduces stake in AIG

NEW YORK » The U.S. government is no longer the majority owner of American International Group Inc.

The bailed-out insurance company said Friday that the Treasury Department had wrapped up a planned sale of AIG stock, which netted the government roughly $20.7 billion.

The government’s sale of 636.9 million shares means it has less than a majority stake in AIG for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, when the Treasury lined up a $182 billion bailout.